The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to monitor the supply of water to Dwarka sub-city by installing flow meters in the command tanks, which get water from tube wells. The Court was informed that water supply in the area had not improved despite the DDA commissioning 10 additional bore wells in the sub-city.
A Division Bench comprising Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul was hearing two writ petitions of the local residents seeking directions to the authorities, including the Delhi Jal Board, to supply more water to the area.
The Bench said since the quantity of water supplied to Dwarka was still being measured through rough estimates, the amount of supply would be clear by installing meters that would gauge the volume of water collected in the tanks.
The petitioners, EPDP CGHS and Dwarka Forum, stated that the local residents were getting only four million gallons per day (MGD) of water against their requirement of 17.5 MGD.
The situation had slightly improved after the installation of more bore wells by the DDA, the Court was told.
The Bench observed that the water drawn from bore wells should be directly supplied to the residents of Dwarka rather than being diverted to the water tankers, which sell it to earn huge profits. It asked the DDA to file an affidavit on the bore wells reportedly being used to fill water tankers for supply to the remote areas in the sub-city.
The Court also directed the DDA to maintain a record of power consumption at each tube well as well as the duration of its operation in order to keep the updated data on water supply. In compliance with an earlier order of the Bench, the DDA counsel submitted an affidavit stating the location of all the 14 functional bore wells in Dwarka.
